Let us imagine a world without the words “friend,” “justice,” “freedom,” “republic.” Such terms, which identify some peculiar traits of our culture, have their roots in the classical tradition. This is why studying Latin does not only mean memorizing its grammatical structures, but also and above all opening a dialogue with the past to understand who we are. With this awareness, the Don Carlo San Martino Institute promotes the teaching of Latin as a fundamental element of the student’s educational path. Reflecting on the values of justice, civic sense, respect for the common good and individual responsibility, present in the works of great authors including Cicero, Virgil, Seneca, Horace, can also provide younger students with the opportunity to master the guiding tools necessary to develop that critical consciousness which can make a difference, for the individual and the community.
Among the objectives pursued:
- establish lexical comparisons between Italian, Latin and other foreign languages studied, focusing on the semantic aspect;
- acquire more precise and conscious terminology in Italian;
- use the Italian dictionary consciously, in both paper and digital format, to deepen the study of etymological relationships between Latin and Italian vocabulary;
- with the teacher’s guidance and in a workshop context, understand the overall meaning of elementary sentences and simple Latin texts (such as aphorisms and proverbs);
- identify the Latin origin of some terms present in fundamental documents (first and foremost: the Constitution);
- recognize the basic morphological structure of Latin words;
- recognize the system and articulation of cases and genders in nominal inflection;
- recognize the simplest verbal forms;
- navigate the syntax of simple sentences, noting similarities and differences with Italian and other languages of study.
Through workshop-based teaching methodologies designed to build a personalized and individualized path that promotes the improvement of each student’s linguistic abilities, in a transversal and interdisciplinary perspective, the teaching of Latin promotes the development of conscious thinking, prepares the individual for a more robust knowledge of Italian syntax and language, and guides them to grasp the vitality of Latin in foreign languages and in STEAM disciplines. And to understand the nuances of reality. Because, as Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote, “the limits of my language are the limits of my world”: thus reflecting on classical and modern languages, knowing how to grasp their beauty and creative power, reminds us that language is the training ground through which thought is formed.
